Sign in with Apple

A Paperwise account is optional. You need one only for sync across iPhone and iPad and for Forward by email, both Pro. Scanning, search, Hidden, the iCloud backup and every tool work without one.

What it is

Paperwise accounts use Sign in with Apple. There’s no password to make and no email to confirm. We don’t ask Apple for your name or your email address.

An account gives you:

Sync across iPhone and iPad (Pro): your vault on each of your devices, encrypted on your devices before it’s uploaded.
Forward by email (Pro): your own Paperwise address for bills and receipts.
Share links you can manage (Pro): links made while signed in can be listed and turned off later.

When you create an account, your iPhone also makes an account key that locks everything you sync, and a recovery key for you to keep. See Your recovery key.

When to use it

When you want your vault on your iPad too.
When you want to forward bills and receipts to Paperwise by email.
Not needed if you use one iPhone and just want a backup: the encrypted iCloud backup is free and works without an account.

Step by step

On the Vault, tap your avatar to open Account.
While you’re signed out, a card at the top shows Sign in with Apple. Tap it.
Confirm with Face ID in Apple’s sheet.

You can also sign in during your first run, on the Sign in, if you like screen.

If there are documents on this iPhone

Documents on this iPhone belong to whoever is signed in. If you sign in while there are documents here that aren’t yours yet (you used Paperwise signed out, or someone else’s account was signed in before), Paperwise asks “You have N documents on this iPhone. Add them to your account?”

Add to my account: they stay on this iPhone and become your account’s. With sync on (Pro), they’re uploaded, encrypted on this iPhone first.
Erase them: after a confirmation and Face ID (or the iPhone’s passcode), they’re deleted from this iPhone, with Recently deleted, folders and saved signatures, before your account’s own documents arrive. Share links made from them are turned off when possible. If the iCloud backup is on, they leave it at its next run.

N counts documents, notes, cards and files that aren’t in Recently deleted or Hidden. Hidden isn’t touched either way. There’s no question when there’s nothing to count, or when you sign in with the same account after “You were signed out”. After you sign out yourself, the next sign-in asks, even with the same account.

Until you answer, sync and Forward by email wait: nothing goes up or comes down. If you close Paperwise first, it asks again next time it opens.

The first time: save your recovery key

If this is a new account, Paperwise opens Recovery key next:

Tap Show recovery key. Your account key and recovery key were created when you signed in; you see the recovery key only once.
Tap Copy or write it down, and keep it somewhere safe, like a password manager.
Tick I saved my recovery key and tap Done. Paperwise says “Your account is ready”.

Signing in on another iPhone or iPad

If the account already exists, the new device needs your account key before it can read your synced items. Paperwise opens Set up this iPhone:

Use another device: scan a code with an iPhone or iPad that’s signed in. See Add a device by code.
Enter recovery key: type the 32-character key you saved when you created your account.
Lost both?: if you have no other signed-in device and lost your recovery key, nobody can read your synced items. Delete the account (it’s removed after 7 days without the account key) and start again with a new one. When you sign in to the new account, Paperwise asks whether to add the documents on this iPhone to it.

Then turn on sync on each device in Account → Use on my iPad → Sync across devices (Pro).

See your account and devices

Open Account and tap the plan card at the top (Paperwise Free or Paperwise Pro). The Plan & account screen shows Signed in with Apple, Devices, Sign out and Delete account.

Sign out

Go to Account → the plan card → Sign out.
Choose Keep them on this iPhone or Remove this account’s documents from this iPhone. Removing needs Face ID or your iPhone’s passcode.

If your documents aren’t safely in your account yet (sync is off, you’re on Free, or changes are still uploading), the screen says why and that erasing deletes them for good, and keeping them is the default. Sync and Forward by email stop here until you sign in again and set up this iPhone. Signing out also removes the account key from this iPhone. Hidden isn’t touched. See Sign out.

Free and Pro

Signing in is free. What an account is for (sync and Forward by email) is Pro. An account can have up to 10 devices.

Privacy

What we store: your Apple account identifier only as a scrambled value (an HMAC under a server secret), never in clear; your devices (name, model, public keys, when they were last seen, at most once a day); and Pro status. Not your Apple email, not your keys.
Device names: our server sees them. A device’s name is its model by default, like “iPhone 17 Pro”, and is set back to the model at each sign-in.
Sessions expire after 90 days without use.
Your keys stay on your devices. The account key never reaches our servers in readable form. Our server keeps one copy locked with your recovery key, which we don’t have.
If someone signs in with your Apple ID: they can open a session and add their own device, but they can’t read your synced items, remove your devices, change your recovery data or delete your account at once. Destructive actions need your account key, which only your devices have. More in the security whitepaper.

What if…

Paperwise says “Sign in with Apple isn’t available on this device.” Check that you’re signed in with your Apple ID in the Settings app.

What if it says my account already has 10 devices?

Remove one in Devices first, from a device that has your account key.

You were signed out, for example after 90 days without use. Your documents stayed on the iPhone. Sign in again with the same account: nothing is asked, and sync picks up where it stopped.

What if I see that my account is scheduled for deletion?

Someone asked to delete your account from a device without your account key. If it wasn’t you, cancel it from a device that has your account key. See Delete your account.

What if I don’t have my recovery key or another device?

See Your recovery key and If you lose your phone.